Covered Classics: “Si j’étais un homme” by Beyries

CSHF News

Montreal-born singer-songwriter Beyries is the latest to perform a song for the Hall of Fame’s Covered Classics series. The songstress takes on Diane Tell’s 1980 hit song Si j’étais un homme(in English, the title translates as “If I were a man”). This is the latest song to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Si j’étais un homme earned Tell four Félix awards as well as a SOCAN Classic award following the singer’s increase in popularity in Canada and France in the 1980’s. Including the song Si j’étais un homme in her following album “En Flêche”, Tell secured the No. 1 spot in November 1980, selling over 100,000 copies.

This sophisticated ballad explores the idea of lack in romantic gestures in relationships, more so the restrictions women face in expressing their feelings through public gestures. Tell claims this idea in some of her lyrics stating, “But I’m a woman and, when you’re a woman, you don’t say/do/buy such things…Ah, if I were a man, I would be romantic!”

Having been composed on a road trip from Montreal to New York City, Si j’étais un homme nonetheless became Tell’s most famous song. Making its first appearance at the Spa Competition in Belgium in 1980, the ballad has since and is still being recorded by many artists including Claire Barlow, Carol Welsman, Jean-Pierre Ferland and singers from the “Star Académie” show.

A collaboration between the CSHF and CBC Music/ICI Musique, Covered Classics invites Canadian artists to perform their version of a classic song as part of its induction into the Hall of Fame. For more 2017 Covered Classics sessions, click here.

In the video below watch Beyries cover of Si j’étais un homme as part of the song’s induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame!